The Masked Guardian
by jebilgutay
Summary: It has been many years since the guardians defeated Pitch Black. Now the Boogie man is back with bigger planes, and has a team of his own. In order to face this treat, the man in the moon chooses a new guardian, the strange and mysterious spirit in charge of Halloween Jack O'Lantern, but can the guardians trust there new initiate?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, welcome to my newest fan fiction. I was a little confused about when the movie took place, so for simplicity sake, I'll just say that it happened in the 1980s and now it's modern day. Well, without further ado, sit back, relax, and enjoy my story.**

The Masked Guardian

Chapter 1; The New Guardian

It had been thirty years since Pitch Black's failed attempt to plunge the world into fear and darkness. He had been dragged down into his lair by the Nightmares and trapped there for all that time, while the guardians went their separate ways. It had been a good few years for the Guardians, but they had't seen the last of the Boggy Man.

It took Pitch a long time, but he finally managed to regain control of the Nightmares, and was ready to put his plans back in motion. Only this time, he would have a team of his own.

"Almost done." Pitch said to himself. He was standing over what appeared to me a large chemistry set. There were beakers, test tube and other pieces of equipment. He looked over a beaker filled with a white fluid. He held out his hand, and a collection of black sand began to swirl around and compact into a small black stone. Pitch took this small black pebble, and dropped it into the beaker. The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the stone came in contact with the black chunk it began to froth on boil. White vapor began to billow from the mouth of the beaker, and accumulated into a white mist. The vapor accumulated into a single cloud, and then it began to shape its self into the vague figure of a woman.

"Welcome to life my daughter." He said kindly to the smoke-woman. "Come and greet you siblings as I bring them into the world." He walked over to a large cylindrical vat, the white smoke following behind him. The vat appeared to be full of thick black tar. Bubbles floated very, very slowly up from the bottom. Pitch looked at the slime closely, then without warning, the liquid began to thrash around. The slime threw it's self around it's container violently, it was as it the sludge were alive.

"You are ready." Pitch said. A scythe of black sand formed in his hand, and with one swift motion, he sliced the container open, spilling the black slime all over the ground. For a moment, the sludge lay motionless, then the goo collected its self into a single puddle. The mess partially raised it's self off the floor as if it were being sucked up through a giant invisible straw. It came up to Pitch's eye level, then a circle opened through the bulge. It looked at Pitch, it's 'eye' transfix on the one who released it.

Pitch then walked over to a large stone table. The slab had something huge on top of it, covered by a white sheet. Pitch pulled the cloth off, revealing something truly monstrous.

It was as if someone had taken a bunch of taxidermy animal parts and stitched them together. The creature had the body of a bear, the head of a wolf, the arms of a gorilla, and the tail of a lion. Pitch gathered a big handful of black sand, and threw it into the air. The sand rained down, and entered through the creature's mouth, and nostrils.

Very slowly, the creatures fingers twitched. It clenched it's fists and opened it's eyes. The creature took one look at Pitch, and screamed. With surprising speed and grace, the beast leapt into the air, catching onto one of the cages hanging from the ceiling. Pitch chuckled at this display. He then reached into his pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be ordinary crackers. The creature looked at Pitch, intrigued. It leaped down, and sniffed the food in Pitch's hand. Hesitantly, it took the food. As the beast ate, Pitch gently stroked the creatures fur.

A cloud of black sand formed under Pitch's feet, and lifted him right up to the highest part of the ceiling, that also housed the largest cage. Inside the cage was a small boy, no older then ten. He was facing the wall, huddled in a fetal position.

"Come child. It's time to meet the others." Pitch said, holding out an open hand. Slowly, the boy looked back at Pitch, his face had an expression of who had given up on life. He took Pitch's hand, and they both returned to the ground.

Soon, the white smoke-woman, the black slime, the chimera and the small boy were lined up in a row. They were all facing Pitch, who was stroking his globe of belief, which was covered with tiny dots of light.

"For those of you who don't know," he said, looking at the white smoke, the black slime and the animal. "I am Pitch Black, the Boggy Man, and I have created all of you to help me achieve my goal."

"Why should we help you?" Pitch looked at the black slim. It was speaking through the hole that it had been using as it's eye.

"Because once I've achieved my goal, each and every one of you will be rewarded." A large amount of black sand swirled in front of Pitch. The sand then divided into five clumps, and shaped into five detailed figures. There was a tall, wide man with a sword in each hand, a woman with feathers and wings, a short, spiky-haired man, an anthropomorphic rabbit, and a guy holding a staff.

"These are the Guardians" He pointed at the figures in order and said "Theres Santa Claus, 'North,' The tooth fairy, 'Tooth,' The Sandman 'Sandy,' the Easter Bunny 'Bunny, and…" He paused, his face contorted in anger. "Jack Frost, or 'Jack.'"

"What...good...they?" Said the chimera, stammering as if it were just learning to speak.

"They are legends. Each one of them serves a role in protecting the children of the world. Each one of them puts their own form of joy into the world, and they all have holidays, or special jobs in their honor."

"So what does this have to do with us?" Said the slime.

"Because once my plans are successful, you will take there places. You will all put you own forms of fear into the world. You will have holidays in honor of you. Parents will tell stories of you to their children, and they will grow up fearing you all." As Pitch said all of this, three of his creations became exited by all of this; the young child was still as sad and mopey as when Pitch let him out.

"Well, now that I've convinced you, that leaves only one thing left unresolved; I need to give all of you your names." Pitch walked over the smoke-woman. "Your name shall be 'Lonesome.'" He moved to the black slime. "You shall be called 'Shock.'"He faced the chimaera. "You are 'Primal,'" He looked at the child. "and you are 'Loss.'"

On the very top of the world, North was engaged in an epic battle agains one of his yetis. The fight had been going on for at least fifteen minutes, but the battle was about to come to a sudden end. Both fighters fists were a blur of motion, then North threw one lucky punch and "POP" off came the little robots head.

"HA! HA! HA!" North Laughed triumphantly as his opponent sulked. At that moment, another yeti burst through the door, yelling franticly. North sighed, and he pinched his brow.

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock!" Ignoring North's frustration, the yeti repeated his message. "What? Manny is here?" North made his way to the Globe of Belief, and sure enough the moon was directly above them, waiting for North to arrive.

"Old friend, its been a while." North said enthusiastically. "What can I do for you?" A beam of moonlight shined down on the button to activate the Northern Lights.

"What? Call the Guardians? What is problem?" but the light just shined brightly on the button. "Alright." and he pushed the button.

Hidden away in a mountain in Asia, Tooth was just as busy as ever.

"Canada, sector 12; 17 canines, 23 premolars. Hail advisory over Michigan." Tooth said all of this very fast as her fairies flew in and out of her palace, dropping off teeth and flying out again with their gifts for the sleeping children. One fairy flew over to Tooth, sadly presenting her package to her.

"Oh no, another cavity. Those memories that will never be the same." Tooth said sadly. She looked up, and to her surprise, saw the Aurora. Without another word, she and her nearest fairies flew off toward it.

Deep underground, Bunny was practicing his Tai-Chi. With Easter long over, Bunny had to find ways to occupy his time. He was in the middle of his training routine, when he felt a strange sensation come over him. He looked up. While he couldn't see the lights from down here, he knew that North was calling the Guardians together. He tapped on the ground with his foot, and a rabbit-hole appeared in the ground, and he leaped into it.

High over New York City, Sandy was scattering his magical dream sand on all the sleeping children, bringing them pleasant dreams, and a good nights sleep. Sensing that something was off, he looked up, and saw the Aurora. Without another thought, Sandy shaped his sand cloud into a fighter jet and flew toward the north-pole.

In Northern Europe, Jack Frost was spreading his ice and snow. Since becoming a Guardian, he felt the need to give his all with every storm he whipped, resulting in blizzards that covered the lands in snow for days, and causing all sorts of collateral damage.

"Now that was fun." Jack said, looking over his work. He was just about to head east when he looked up and saw the northern lights. North had told him that if he ever saw them anywhere other then at the poles, it meant that he was calling the Guardians together. While Jack hated the idea off putting fun on hold, North obviously had something important to tell them.

North paced back and forth, waiting for his friends to arrive. The first to show up was Tooth, flying through the open ceiling.

"Ah, Tooth. Good to see you." North said as his friend flew down to greet him. Next to arrive was Bunny.

"All right, mate, what's the idea off getting us all together." He said grumpily.

"I will tell you when the others arrive. In the mean time; cookies, Eggnog, fruitcake, anyone?" He offered.

Next to arrive was Sandy, his sand plane dissolved as he leaped off and joined his friends.

"Sandy, welcome." North said, offering him a glass of Eggnog, which Sandy happily took.

"Hey guys." Jack said as he flew down through the open ceiling. "It's been a long time since we all got together like this." Upon landing, tooth's fairies all flew to Jack, zipping around him with glee. One in particular was very happy to see him.

"Hey Baby-Tooth." Jack said, happy to see his small friend again.

"All right mate," Bunny said to North, "were all here, so whats the deal?" North gestured to the moon.

"Ask Manny, he's the one who told me to call you all here." As he spoke, the moon light brightened on the floor. A shadow appeared in the moonlight, and it took the shape of Pitch Black, but it didn't stop there. Other shapes appeared in the light,

shapes the guardians didn't recognize, but the message was clear.

"Pitch is back," Jack said concerned. "and it looks like he has friends."

"What must we do, Manny?" North asked. The shadows vanished as the beam of moonlight focussed the elaborate "G" on the floor. The floor panel opened, and the Guardian Stone rose up, much to everyones surprise.

"Guys whats going on?" Jack asked; this was his first time seeing this.

"Manny is choosing a new Guardian." North explained.

"But we just got Jack." Bunny protested. "Why is he choosing someone new?"

"Must be big deal. Manny must think we need more help if he is choosing another Guardian." North said.

"Think it might be the Leprechaun this time?" Tooth asked excitedly. Sandy created a heart of sand above his head. "You think Cupid." Tooth said in response.

"Please not the groundhog. Please not the groundhog. Please not the groundhog." Bunny kept saying over and over.

"Please be the groundhog. Please be the groundhog. Please be the groundhog."

Jack said, his fingers crossed. As the image became clearer and clearer, North's eyes widened is wonder and excitement. Now the image was perfectly clear.

It definitely was not a ground hog. The figure was a man in his mid twenties. He was wearing a jacket and jeans, and was holding a lantern in his right hand. Though what Jack found most interesting was that the guy was wearing what appeared to be a masquerade mask, hiding his entire face, save for his mouth.

"Jack O'Lantern." North said surprised.

"NO. NO. NO!" Tooth shouted, causing everyone to look at her. "I refuse to make him a Guardian."

"Whoa, Tooth. What's got you all fired up?" Jack said, surprised by his friend's sudden out burst.

"You mean besides the fact that he and his holiday give out tooth-rotting, memory-destroying candy." She hissed; this was so unlike her.

"'His holiday?'" Jack asked.

"Lantern is in charge of Halloween, just like Bunny and I are in charge of Christmas and Easter." North replied

"Well, what else do we know about him?" Jack asked. Sandy looked at him with an (I don't know) expression, and a question mark of sand appeared over his head.

"Tell you the truth mate, we don't know much of anything of this Lantern bloke." Bunny said.

"Even so," North said. "if man-in-moon chose him to be Guardian, then he must be worthy. He turned to the others. "We must find Jack O'Lantern.

**To Be Continued**

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new fanfiction. I know that there have been several rise of the Guardians OCs centered around the Halloween mascot, but I feel my guy is going to add something new. I promise to introduce my OC in the next chapter. Also, if any of you notice any spelling or grammar errors, please tell me so I can correct them. See you next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. Schools been a struggle, and I've had a period of sloth unfortunately. There is some good news (for me any way) I got a full time job, so I've had less time to work on this; but more money. **

**Anyway, her is the next chapter of The Masked Guardian, & were going to meet my OC.**

**The Masked Guardian**

**Chapter 2, The Man Of Many Faces.**

It was a crisp autumn morning in Pensilvania. October had just started, and Halloween was on everyone's mind. A small elementary school was just opening it's doors, the first to arrive was the principle. He had just finished unlocking all the class rooms when.

Bang! Bang! Bang! He heard a knock at the front door, and in stepped one of the teachers. Theodor Rumbsfelt, a middle aged man. He had short curly brown hair, with specks of grey. He also wore a brace on his right had for his carpal tunnel.

"Hello, Theodor." The principle said. As he went to greet his colleague he caught a whiff of smoke.

"Theodor, do you smoke?"

"No, but the door man of my apartment does. I have to pass him everyday, and that stuff always lingers on me."

"Also, why do you always knock? You work here, just come in."

"It's a quirk I have. I've tried to kick the habit, but I just can't."

"One more question, why did you decide to become a school teacher?"

"Hugh?" Theodor asked.

"You have a masters degree. You could do so much better then this, so why work for a public school?" To his surprise, Theodor smiled.

"True the pay isn't much, but the feeling of pride and teaching children more then makes up for that." About an hour later, Theodor was giving his fourth grade class a lecture about the up coming Lunar Eclipse.

"What's a Lunar Eclipse?" Asked a girl in pigtails.

"Good question, Sally." Theodore said. "As most of you may know, a solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, casting it's shadow on the earth." He drew a diagram on the wipe board to illustrate. "So a Lunar eclipse would be when..." he stopped to let his students have a chance to guess. Finally one said, in an uncertain shaky voice.

"When the earth passes in front of the sun, and casts its shadow on the moon?"

"Correct." Theodore said and he threw a piece of hard candy to the student who happily caught it; it was surprisingly hot.

"According to the experts, the next Lunar eclipse is scheduled this Friday at 7:15PM, and will peak at around 9:30 PM. If anyone wants to earn some extra credit, observe the eclipse and document what happens in a journal, if weather permits."

They spent the rest of the school day covering subjects that most children wouldn't see until early middle school. Unlike the other teachers, Theodore preferred to challenge his students with problems that required higher levels of thinking, although his superiors weren't to pleased with him for this. However, unbeknownst to the class, they were being watched. A hummingbird was hovering above the flowers, looking in at the class.

After class was dismissed Theodor gathered up his stuff, but instead of leaving, he made his way to the supply closest in the back of the classroom. He took off his wrist brace. Holding it in one hand, and with the other, knocked on the closet door, opened it, and stepped inside. Little did he know, the hummingbird had made it's way inside, and slipped through the door with him before it closed.

In a dry dusty town in the heart of the Texas badlands, a small fireworks store stood on the outskirts of town. At the moment, the store was closed, but then there came a knock at the front door. The door swung open, and in stepped a woman. Her name was Sara Hernandez. She was a middle aged woman of mixed heritage. She had thick bushy brown hair and buck teeth. She wore overalls and a fedora. It was early October and business was slow, not like around the 4th of July, but there were people who would come by, and today she had such costumers. Around noon a woman and her young boy came in. The mom said they were looking for some fireworks to celebrate their husband/dad's birthday. After a while looking, they came to the front counter with their picks.

"Okay, so thats five M80s, six Roman Candles, four Devil Dragons. Anything else, hun?"

"Well, it's my pa's fortieth birthday, and I want it to be special. Could I get some of your famous Sky-Candies?" The boy asked.

"Sure thing." One thing that set Sara's store apart from other fireworks stores was that her most popular products were of her own making. Sara had a degree in chemistry from The University of Texas, and she made good use of it. A few minutes later, she returned from the storage with a handful of her home made rockets. After the mother payed for the fireworks, she and her son turned to leave, when.

"Hold up." Sara put her hands under the front counter, and heard the clattering of countless tiny items clinking against class. Sandy pulled up jar full of assorted candies from behind the counter. "Take a couple. Free with every purchase." With his mothers permission, the boy took a handful of the complementary sweets; they were strangely hot.

Eventually, the sun started to set; early with it being fall. Sara locked up the front door, and made her way to the back when she heard the front bell ring. She turned and saw a young man wearing the most unusual attire. He wore tattered pants that looked to be made of burlap. He was barefoot, and he wore a blue hoodie, which was really odd considering how hot it was even at night. His hair was pure white, and he was carrying a wooden staph the resembled a shepherds crook.

"Man, it is hot out here." The boy said, but as he walked a blast of icy cold air filled the shop.

"Can I help you sonny." Sara asked. As she did, a hummingbird flew down from the ceiling, and greeted the boy enthusiastically.

"You can drop the act Lantern, we know it's you." A feminine voice said from behind. Sara turned and there, hovering in midair, a half human, half hummingbird woman, with at least five little look-a-likes floating around her. Sara sighed heavily then said,

"I would ask how you found out my identity, but it's obvious a little birdie told you." only, she didn't speak like she normally did. The tone had been reduced to a monotone, and her southern accent had been swapped for an irish one. Despite all this, what really stood out was that she was now speaking in a male voice.

Sara took off her Fedora, then to everyones surprise,smoke began to rise off of her body, her skin began to burn away, like fire burning from the center of a leaf outward. However, as her skin burned away, it did not revile any of the bodies inner working. Instead, her appearance began to change, and soon, where Sara once was there stood a man. He wore a old fashioned trench coat, and black pants. He had bright flowing red hair, and through the slits in the gothic masquerade mask he wore, one could see that his eyes were emerald green.

As soon and his fiery transformation was complete, Jack O'lantern flicked the arm in with he held his Fedora. In a burst of flames the hat had vanished, and was replaced with a small, old fashioned hooded lantern. it seemed to be made of Wrought Iron, and glowed with a soft light.

"So, what does a guardian and a spirit want with me?" As Lantern spoke, a ball of fire erupted in the palm of his hand. When the flames died, there was a lollipop, which he immediately popped in his mouth; Tooth winced at this.

"Ugh, I'm a guardian too." Jack said, feeling slightly offended.

"Oh, my mistake." Lantern apologized. "So, why are here?"

Jack smiled mischievously. "Follow me." he turned and walked out of the shop, Tooth and her fairies following behind him. His curiosity piqued Lantern followed, locking the door behind him, again. Lantern followed Frost and Tooth around back, but just as he rounded the corner, he was ambushed. Before he could react, a Yeti grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and lifted him off the ground.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" Lantern shouted, his lollipop falling out of his mouth. His protests, however, were ignored as he was thrown into a large sack held by a second Yeti

"North was right." Jack said with a smile. "It is fun to do that." One of the yetis threw a snow globe onto the ground, and a magic portal to North's workshop appeared.

"Ladies first." Jack gestured to Tooth. She imitated a curtsy and flew into the portal. After Jack leapt in the Yetis threw their package into the portal and followed, the portal closed behind them. The bag flew through the air and landed at the feet of North and the others Guardians.

"He's here." North said exited. What happen next caused ever to jump back in shock. The sack that Lantern had been in burst into flames. In mere seconds, the bag had been reduced to ash, but it's contents were unharmed. Lantern stood up, brushed himself off, and looked at the ones who brought him here. Without warning, Lantern burst into flames, and in his place stood a blond teen-age girl, Lantern's lantern had become a bright pink purse.

"OMG, I can not believe it." He/she then came over to the Guardians and started shaking their hands. "I can not believe it, I am actually shaking hands with Santa Cause."

"Please, call me "North.'"

"And you can drop the acting, mate." Bunny said sounding agitated. The blond teenager sighed heavily and In a burst of flames, changed back into Lantern.

"Very well. Why have you brought me here?" As he spoke, a ball of fire formed in his hand. When the flames died, several small pieces of candy appeared in the palm of his hand; Tooth winced in disgust at the sight of them. Lantern was about to pop them in his mouth, when he looked down and saw several of North's elves looking at him in pure awe. Slowly, Lantern put the little candies in his shirt pocket, and another fireball erupted in his hand. This time, when the flames died there was a whole chocolate bar in his hand. In a teasing manor, he slowly unwrapped the candy bar, the elves drooling as he did so. Once the wrapper was completely off, he looked at it for a moment or two then threw it towards the globe. The Elves watching turned around, and ran off in search of it. Little did they know that Lantern never threw the chocolate, and was taking a bite as he watched them run off.

"Anyway." He continued. Why am I here."

"Good question." Jack said with a grin.

"Why?" North said stepping forward. "I tell you why. Because now, you are guardian." Without warning, several of the elves let loose a loud fan fair. Trumpets sounded, drums were pounded, and two yetis marched around Lantern, twirling batons that were flaming at both ends. Two of Tooth's fairies, reluctantly put a star necklace around his neck. As the music grew louder and louder, confetti began to fall, and a band of elves playing brass instruments circled around Lantern; who stood there blankly and let all this happened around him. A yeti brought out a large book, and gave it to North, who cleared his throat as he opened it. The room went quiet as North began to read.

"Will you, Jack O'Lantern vow to watch over the children of the world, to guard them with your life, there hopes, their wished, and their dream, for they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be?"

"No." Lantern said flatly, and the necklace spontaneously combusted .

"Well you cant say no. It doesn't work if you say no." Bunny said.

"I'm flattered that you would invite me to join you group, but I'm afraid that I have far too many commitments. I have several businesses to manage, charities to run, and In thirty minutes I'll be giving a college lecture."

"Crikey, how many lives are you living mate?" Bunny asked.

"Well, if you don't want to be a guardian, we wont force you. Thank you for your time, goodbye." Tooth said quickly. North stepped forward and put his hand on Lantern's shoulder.

"Look up there." He gestured to the Globe of Belief. Everyone of those lights is a child who believes, and good or bed, naughty or nice, we protect them."

"I understand, and I see the importance, but I have other responsibilities to manage. You will just have to get someone else."

"We didn't pick you." Jack said, taking to the air. "HE did." He gestured to the moon.

"The man in the moon wants me to be a guardian?" Lantern asked. "That raises so many question. Why didn't he tell me himself, why wait until now, and why chose me?"

"Why so many questions?" North asked.

"I'm a curious guy." Lantern said, not taking his eyes off the moon.

"All you need to know," North said. "is that Pitch Black is up to something, and we need your help.

Pitch Black? The Boogyman?" Lantern asked.

"Yes. Yesterday, Man in Moon called us together. He told us Pitch was up to something, and he chose you to be new guardian." North said.

"Well, how about we see this thing through together before I consider joining your group." Lantern said.

"Sounds like a plan." North said, slapping Lantern on the back, almost knocking him down. "Jack," North said, Frost flew down. "why don't you show him ropes?"

"Why me?" Jack asked.

"You were the new guy once." Tooth said. "So you should be the one to teach him what he needs to know."

"Besides mate, it might be fun." Bunny said with a grin. Jack frowned at his friend/rival. He then turned to Lantern.

"Come with me." Jack lead Lantern to a deserted area of the work shop, passing the elves that were still in search of the chocolate bar they would never find. Once they were alone, Jack turned to Lantern.

"Well, as North would say." He put on a fake Russian accent. "'We get down to tax of brass.'" He looped the crook of his staff around Lantern's neck. "Who are you, Jack O'Lantern." He pulled him in closer. "What is your center?"

"My what?" Lantern asked. Jack released him from the crook of his staff.

"Every guardian has a center. Something that they put into the world that makes life wonderful, and each one is unique. North is wonder, Bunny is hope, Sandy, obviously, is dreams, and Tooth, strangely enough is memory."

"And what is your center?" Lantern asked, who felt strange being lectured by someone younger then himself.

"This is my center." he reached into the pocket of his hoodie, and pulled out the smallest of a set of Russian nesting dolls. Lantern looked at it.

"I don't understand." he said.

"Take a closer look." Jack said. Lantern took a closer look. The most prominent feature he noticed was the dolls smile.

"You're smiling." Lantern said.

"Yes," Jack said exited. "because he's having fun. It took me a while to figure it out, but the man in the moon chose me to be a guardian because even when things are at there worst, I know that we can always have fun."

"Fascinating," Lantern said, returning the doll. "I can't say I know what my center is, but you have me intrigued."

"Don't worry, you'll find it." Jack said, putting his hand on Lantern's shoulder. They then hear the sound of galloping. They looked up, and saw Bunny running to them.

"Mates, you've got to see this." He said sounding worried.

**I hope you all liked it. Sorry it took me so long to put it up, but I got a full time job recently, and I haven't had as much time to work on it. I hope you all enjoyed my OC Jack O'Lantern. If it's self explanatory, while Lantern is disguised, he can be seen and interact with ordinary humans (children and adults) with out being believed it. Well, see you next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry for not updating for so long, things have been a little confusing for me for a while. First I got a full time job, then school started, and after a few weeks and some soul searching, I finally realized that academia wasn't my path and dropped out, but enough about my personal life, on to the next chapter.**

**Chapter 3; the guardians of fear.**

Bunny brought Frost and Lantern back to the globe, and what they saw made there hearts skip. The lights on the globe were going out, but they were doing it in a strange way. Instead of going out all over the globe (literally) they vanishing lights were concentrated in a single area. Specifically, Burgess Pensilvania, Jack Frosts home town.

"What is happening?" North asked.

"I don't know, but I'll bet my staff that Pitch is behind it." Frost said firmly.

"Everyone, to the sleigh." North proclaimed. He lead them down into the depths of his workshop, to an underground runway. Yetis and elves were scrambling, some were moving various objects around, while others were franticly clearing the runway of debris. A set of doors at the back of the runway opened, out out stepped eight giant reindeer bulling a magnificent giant sleigh. While everyone else looked at the sleigh in awe joy, or in Bunny's case nervousness, Lantern simply looked at it with his singular apathetic expression. Without another word he climbed on. North was a little taken aback by this behavior.

"Guess not every one loves the sleigh, mate." Bunny said in Norths ear. North grunted, but took the reigns anyway.

"Are we ready?" North said. Without waiting for a response from the yetis, North cracked the reigns and the reindeer bolted. They were pulled down a steep tunnel and raced along an icy trail like an over sized bobsled. As they raced along the track North laughed while Bunny clung to his chair, looking nauseous.

"I hope you like the loopty loops." North said (mostly to Lantern) enthusiastically. Soon they left the icy tunnels and raced up a wooden ramp and were airborne. They did a single mid-air loop and were off. Jack look at Lantern, smiling from ear to ear.

"Now wasn't that fun?" Jack said. Lantern looked at him, and In a burst of flames, turned into a slightly overweight man with curly red hair. He was wearing a "Thrill Junky" Tea shirt, and his lantern had become pair of headphones.

"That was extreme!" He shouted. With another burst of flames he became a tall, thin man. He wore a white button up shirt and black pants. He also wore glasses (that Jack assumed was his Lantern.)

"I should use this for the designees of my next roller coaster." With another burst of flames, Lantern returned to normal and sat quietly, leaving the other looking at him strangely.

"Is it just me, or is this Lantern bloke a bit off?" Bunny whispered to Jack, Sandy and Tooth.

"'Off?' He's totally creepy, no other way to put it." Tooth said in a hushed hiss.

"He's not that creepy." Jack retorted.

"I can hear you." Lantern said calmly.

"Stop the arguing, everyone. Were about to make jump." North said as he took a snow globe out of his pocket.

It was the dead of night in the town of Burgess, and a young girls slept peacefully, ignorant of the malicious presence watching her from the shadows.

**CLANK**. A picture frame of her and her family had been knocked down, startling her awake. In the glow of her nightlight, she saw the fallen picture. She got out of bed, walked over and picked it up. Little did she know that in the glow of her nightlight, a black slime began to ooze it's way out of her shadow and inch along the floor toward her.

As the girl put the picture back where it belonged, she hear a soft squishing noise behind her. She turned around, but saw nothing. Her suspicions calmed, she turned to get back in bed. Thats when it struck. Without warning, the black slime pounced, enveloping the girl. Only her screams of terror escaped the ooze. The girls parents rushed to the their daughters room, but by the time they arrived the sludge had gone, as well as there daughter.

High above the town, North and the other Guardians arrived through a magic portal. No sooner had they arrived they found themselves ambushed by a torrent of black sand that swirled around the sleigh.

"What is this?" Lantern asked, sounding cool and collected despite the circumstances.

"These are Nightmares. Jack said as he blasted them with ice. Surprisingly, the Nightmares were not attacking. Instead, the black sand collected around the base of the sleigh and the rein dear, prompting a corse change.

"It seems there trying to steer us somewhere." Lantern said.

"And I think I know where to." Frost said pointing to the roof of an office building. Cast upon the flat surface was the oversized silhouette of Pitch Black. The Shadow then vanished, and Pitch himself stood on the roof of the building, waiting patiently. The Guardians landed the sleigh, and leapt out, ready for battle.

"The Big Four…Oh, sorry, I mean Big Five." Pitch corrected, looking at Frost. "It's been such a long time." Pitch said with a smile. "And I see you've brought a friend."

"Jack O'Lantern." Lantern said flatly.

"So, you've added a new member to your team." Pitch said.

"More of a trial membership." Lantern interjected.

"Well, since you've added a new member to your team, I suppose it's only fair I introduce you to the new members of my team." Before any of the guardians could ask what he meant, Pitch snapped his fingers. From out of his shadow, a black ooze began to seep. The sludge accumulated into one big pile and a tendril extended from it, with a hole through the middle of it that resembled an eye. The guardians barely had time to express their disgust when they were suddenly surrounded by a thick white fog. The mist swirled around all of them, as if it were inspecting them. It then collected in-between Pitch and the black slime, and took the vague form of a woman. They then heard the sound of heavy panting, and a hideous conglomerate creature pulled it's self up onto the roof of the building. It had the head of a wolf, the body of a bear, the arms of a gorilla and the tail of a lion. As the beast joined the other, a small boy stepped out from behind Pitch. He was wearing tattered cloths, his hair was a messy mop, and he had the look of someone who had completely given up on life.

"These are my children." Pitch said. He gestured to the slime, "'Shock,'" the white smoke "'Lonesome,'" the Chimaera, "'Primal'" He then patted the little boy on the shoulder. "and this is 'Lose.'"

"Who or what are these blokes?" Bunny asked, his face contorted in disgust."

"As I said rabbit, these are my children; the guardians of fear."

"They are why children of this town have stopped believing." North said, pointing with his swords.

"I'm afraid you're only half right North. Yes, they are the reason the children of this town have stopped believing, but it's far more complicated than that." Pitch said with a malicious slime.

"What did you do to them?" Tooth demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Pitch replied.

"If you think were going to let you mess with children of the world," Frost began, but Pitch interrupted.

"I have much bigger plans then ruining the hopes and dreams of children. That's what they are for" He gestured to the Guardians of Fear. "I have moved on to bigger, world changing plans."

"What are you talking about?" North demanded.

"That's a secret, but I will say this; before this week is over, the world as you know it will change forever." Pitch then disappeared into the shadows, and his silhouette began to circle them, his voice fading in and out as he did so.

"Children, I leave them to you, I have matters elsewhere to attend to." And he was gone. The guardian's and Lantern didn't have time to wonder where he had gone to, because at a that moment, the Guardians of fear attacked. Primal lunged at Bunny, who leapt away just in time. Tooth and Sandy were engaged in some form of arial combat. Lose threw punch after punch at North, how was doing his best to avoid fighting back, as well as getting hit. That left the two Jacks to deal with Shock.

The black slime fired hardened spikes of itself at the two Jacks, who, thanks to Frost were able to fly out of the way. Frost fired an icy blast at it, which seemed to work at first, the slime had frozen, but it quickly broke free and continued it's assault.

"That slime is surprisingly tenacious."Lantern said as he threw a fireball at it, which burnt off the lop layer of the slime. As the charred bits of sludge broke apart, Frost and Lantern were shocked to see two children; a boy and a girl passed out in the ashes.

"What the?" Jack asked.

"We can ask questions later." Lantern said throwing more fireballs at Shock. "Get them in the sleigh."

Bunny and Primal were locked in a dead heat. Bunny was faster, but primal was much stronger.

"Crikey!" Bunny said as he dodged a punch from Primal that cracked the cement. "You pack a punch, mate."

Sandy attempted to strike at Lonesome with his sand whips, but the white smoke evaded ever strike. Tooth chased Lonesome down to the street. and cornered her in an ally.

"Give up, you're cornered." Tooth demanded. At that moment, there was the sound clanking metal. They looked, and saw a cat rooting through a dumpster. Without warning Lonesome rushed toward the animal and completely enveloped it. The white smoke absorbing into the animals body completely. The cat's eyes turned pure white, and it hissed at them in a chuckling manner

Realizing what had happened, Tooth and Sandy tried to catch the stray, but it easily evaded the two. It ran out into the street. Tooth and Sandy chased after the possessed cat, but they had no sooner rounded the corner when they were encountered by a man; his eyes were white, and the cat was nuzzling against his legs.

"My turn." The man said, and he threw himself at Tooth and Sandy.

North was having the hardest time of all of them. Despite his swords, and the skills he had with them, North just couldn't bring himself to deliberately harm a child (If indeed he was one.) The boy, Loss, had no such hesitations and threw punch after punch at to get away, North leapt off the roof and onto the road, but Loss followed behind. After landing, Lonesome moved toward a parked car, and picked it up as easily as if it were Styrofoam

"Rimsky-Korsakov." North said, as Lonesome threw the vehicle at him. To protect himself, North threw a snow globe in front of him, creating a portal that the car flew into. Lonesome rushed toward North, ready to throw a punch, when a wall of ice rose between the two.

"These guys are tough." Frost said as he flew down, firing another beam of ice at the slime that was following close behind. They were soon joined by the other three guardians, who were having problems of their own.

"Where's Lantern?" Tooth asked.

"He's guarding the sleigh." Jack replied. That slime thing coughed

"I'll give Pitch this, he went all out with these mates." Bunny said throwing his boomerangs.

Suddenly, Tooth gasped. "The tooth palace. It's is under attack."

"These guys are just a distraction." Jack said.

"We have to go, now. Everyone to the sleigh!" North shouted.

"How do you propose we get to it?"Jack asked

"Leave that to me." Bunny tapped his foot on the ground twice and a rabbit hole opened under their feet. They fell through, and popped up right beside the sleigh, which Lantern was guarding.

"Move, move!" North said, and they all leapt into the sleigh.

"Where did these ankle-biters come from?" Bunny asked seeing the unconscious children in the back, but before either of the Jacks could explain, Shock, the black slime erupted out the sleigh's shadow.

"Crikey!" Bunny shouted as the slime enveloped everything. Just as the slime was about to consume the sleigh and everyone on board, Lantern raised his lantern, and a dazzlingly bright light shined forth, throwing the slime back all over the roof.

"Go, now." Lantern said. With a crack of the reigns, the sleigh took to the air.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I wanted to post in before October was over, but regrettably I kept putting it off. Anyway I h****ope to get some good reviews, and let me know if you find any spelling or grammar errors for me to fix. See you next time. **


	4. Chapter 4

**THE MASK GUARDIAN **

**Chapter 4; Calm Before The Storm**

"Tooth Palace ." North said into one of his snow globs. He threw it in front of the sleigh and a portal opened. As soon as they crossed through, they were greeted by a sight they had seen before. Countless nightmares were swarming around the Tooth palace, and Tooth's varies were doing there best to fight them off.

"Oh, no not again." Tooth said. Without warning, Jack and Sandy took to the air. Jack fired blast after blast of ice, freezing the nightmares in midair, while Sandy cracked his sand whips, making them crumble to dust.

"I won't let this happen again!" Tooth said, and she took to the air as well.

"This has happened before?" Lantern asked.

"It's a long story mate," Bunny replied. "but it'll have to wait. Now put that Lantern to use and melt these buggers!" He threw his boomerang taking out a pair of nightmares. Taking Bunny's advice, Lantern stood up from his seat and swung his lantern violently, launching fireballs at the nightmares, melting them into glass. For several minutes the guardians battled Pitch's minions, but even though they were badly out numbered, they managed to fight them off. Once the threat had ended, Tooth met up with some of her fairies.

"Alright, what's the damage?" The little sprite squeaked rapidly, and while it was nonsense to the others, Tooth understood perfectly.

"Good news, our losses are minimum. We've managed to protect most of the teeth, and they didn't get that may of my fairies, but we need to get them back soon." Tooth said.

"That's good to hear." Jack replied."

"After Pitch's last attack, we've been doing regular training drills. _This _time, we were ready for them. Tooth said proudly.

"But why did he attack here again? After last time, he should have known we would learn from last time." North said.

"Probably because Tooth and Sandy work 24/7. If he wants to ruin the hops and dreams of children, this is a good place to start." Bunny said.

"Not to ruin the moment," Lantern interrupted. "but what do we do about them?" He gestured to the two unconscious children in the sleigh. No sooner did he point them out that the boy began to wake up.

"Ugh, what happened?" The boy said said. He then saw the Guardians and said, "I must still be dreaming. I'm seeing Santa clause and the Easter Bunny." North walked up to the boy.

"What is your name, little boy?" He said, putting his hand affectionately on the boys shoulder.

"Tommy Bennett, and this is Jenny, my sister." Jacks eyes widened at hearing the boys name, but no one took notice.

"Tell me, what happened before you wound up here?"

"Well, I was woken up by a noise in my closet. I opened the door, but nothing was there. I turned around, and I was jumped by some kind of black goo. Then," he paused. "I don't remember much after that. Just darkness and, you know that feeling you get when your startled? It was like that but it wouldn't stop." 

"I think I've heard enough." North turned to Sandy. "Sandy, if you would please." Sandy nodded and sprinkled his sand over the two kids and they fell back asleep.

"We should get them home. Tooth said. 

"I'll take them back." Jack blurted out.

"I'll go with you." Lantern said.

"Well, alright, but come straight to the Poll once your done." Tooth said. "You remember what happened last time you didn't show up." She said sternly. Both Jacks picked up a child in one arm, and wrapped their other around the others shoulder and took to the air. For a while they flew in silence, then Frost said,

"Lantern, thanks."

"For what?" 

"It was your attack that saved these two. If it wasn't for you they would still be trapped in that slime."

"Your welcome." Lantern said flatly, but Frost could tell that he was sincere. He smiled and said,

"Can I ask you something?" 

"You just did." Lantern replied. "But you may ask me another question."

"You can change your appearance, and be seen and talk to normal people, right."

"That is correct."

"What have you been doing all this time?" To Frost's surprise, Lantern cracked a small smile.

"I have been using my time to learn. For hundreds of years I've been gathering information, and mastering the modern."

"O….K." Frost said uncertainly. Seeing Frosts confusion, Lantern clarified.

"I took on multiple personas to accomplish multiple goals and learn new skills. I've been involved of many great historical events over the centuries; behind my mask of course."

"What kind of events?" Frost asked.

"Everything to be frank; science, sports, music, politics: you name it. I've left my mark on this world multiple times in multiple fields."

"Wow, sounds like you've done it all." Frost said impressed.

"And I've learned a lot on the way. If your interested, I know some facts about rabbits that I'm sure Bunny wouldn't want you to know."

"I'm listening." Frost said, exited. Not wanting the children to hear what he was about to say, Lantern leaned closer and whispered into Frosts' ear.

"**No way, gross! ** Frost exclaimed with a laugh. "Oh, I'm going to hold this over Bunny for a long, long time."

"Now let me ask you something." Lantern said. "What can you tell me about Pitch Black?" Frost looked at him surprised.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's best to know as much about your enemy as you can, and you've known him longer then I have."

"Fair enough." Frost said with a shrug. "Well, back in the Dark Ages, Pitch had the power and freedom to spread fear every. Then, The Man in the Moon chose the guardians; minus me at the time, to bring joy to kids, and make the world a brighter place. He caused trouble about thirty years ago, and he nearly threw the world into a second dark age, but Manny chose to make me a guardian, and with the help of a good friend of mine, we managed to defeat him."

"Interesting, but what can you tell me about him personally." Lantern asked intrigued. Frost looked at him confused, but answered.

"Well, when he's not being wicked, he can be very manipulative. He told me about had bad it was for him being cast aside, and to have no one believing in him, and he nearly got me to join him."

"Interesting." Lantern said. "You might think badly of me for saying this, but part of me can sympathize with him." Frost looked at him surprised, but before he could ask what he meant, Lantern pointed at a town they were passing over and said, "Jack, bring us down there."

"Why?" Frost replied.

"I'll get use the rest of the way." Frost landed them by an apartment complex, and Lantern walked up to a nearby door.

"Lantern, what are you doing?" Frost asked. Lantern knocked on the door three times, then turned to Frost.

"Opening the door." and he did just that. The door opened, but not onto a Chinese apartment, This was obviously a child's bedroom. As they stepped inside, Frost realized that they were indeed back in Burgess.

"Not a bad trick. You might even put Bunny's tunnels to shame." Frost as as he laid Tommy on his bed. They then walked quietly across the hall and put Jenny in her room. There eyes were then drawn to a poster of the WHIMSY film 'FREEZING' It showed princess Ashly and her sister Ellen standing back to back. Frost looked at the poster, his eyes on Ellen and said,

"She's cute."

"I'm not surprised you would think that, since she has ice powers too." Lantern replied. They quietly left Jenny's room, and Lantern said,

"Alright, Frost, lets get back to the pole…" But his sentence was cut short when the door of the master bedroom opened and outstepped a middle aged man. He had messy brown hair and a round face. He walked right past them the two Jacks, but while he couldn't see them, Frost kept his eyes on him as he went down stairs.

"Do you know him?" Lantern asked.

"I use to." Frost said sounding glum.

"Let me guess. He was once a child that your were very fond of, but now that he's grown up he's lost both belief and sight of you.,

"Sight yes, belief no. His name is Jamie Bennet, and last time Pitch attacked, he gave us the strength to beat him, and he help me find my center."

"I'm sure this must be hard for you, but I think it's time we get back."

"You're right." Frost said. They both turned and Lantern knocked on Jenny's door.

"What was that?" They heard Jamie say downstairs, but the two Jacks stepped through the door and were gone.

Back at the north pole, Frost and Lantern stepped out of a broom closet.

"Let's get to the globe, I'm sure that's were the others are there waiting for us." Frost said.

Sure enough, the other guardians were at the globe, observing the lights; and the elves at the top who were looking for the chocolate bar they would never find.

"Ah, your back." North said as the two Jacks came into view.

"Has anything happened while we were away?" Frost asked.

"Not so far, it looks like Pitch is laying low for now." Tooth said. But the question is what is his grand plan? If he's not trying to stop the children from believing in us, what is he planing to do?"

"He said that his plan was going to happen this week." Bunny replied. "So what's happening this week?"

"Several things; political discussions, sports games, birthday parties, fifth grad field trips, the list goes on." Lantern said flatly. The others looked at him with odd expressions. "Unlike most of you,I stay in touch with what is going on in the world."

"No, but Pitch wouldn't be interested in anything like that, it's got to be something bigger then anything here on earth." Frost said. Lantern suddenly struck by a realization.

"The eclipse."

"Ay? Bunny asked.

"Yesterday, I told my fourth grade students that on Friday night at 7:15 there is going to be a total lunar eclipse.

"I don't get it." Tooth said.

"'ll show you." Lantern said. He looked around. "This would be easier if I had a visual aid."

"I'll handle that." Frost said. He touched his staff to the floor, and thin frost covered the floor.

"Thank you." Lantern said, and he dew two circles. "Now, I trust you all know what a solar eclipse is?"

The guardians nodded in agreement.

"Well, a lunar eclipse is the opposite. It's when the earth passes in from of the sun and casts it shadow on the moon. He drew two lines from the large of the two circles with the smaller one in-between.

"But what is big deal?" North asked curious. "Why would Pitch be interested in that.

"I have a theory, nothing more." Lantern said as he drew a "P" in the middle of the larger circle. "From what I've seen, Pitch can move through darkness, traveling from place to through the shadows they cast. While it sounds to grand to be true, celestial bodies; like planets and moons, cast shards as well.

"Cut to the chase mate." Bunny said impatiently. Lantern put his finger on the "P"

"I believe, that if Pitch were to become strong enough by the time the eclipse is at it's peak, he could ride the earths shadow and go to the moon."He drew a line from the large circle to the smaller one and put a "P" in the middle of it.

"Go to the moon?" Said Frost. "But why would he want to do that?"

"We can only guess. That's assuming my theory is correct." Lantern added.

Meanwhile, in the dark depths of the boogyman's lair, Pitch was counting the teeth and fairies his nightmares had brought him; he was disappointed.

"This is all you managed to get!?" He shouted,frightening the nightmare, which crumbled into dust. "They've learned from last time." Pitch said, turning to face his Dark guardians. "My old tricks wont work again."

"What do you want to do?" Primal asked.

"We divide and conquer." Pitch said with a smile.

**TO BE CONTINUED **

**I hope you enjoyed my chapter, not any action, but it did help move the plot along. I hope you like my running jock of the elves and the chocolate bar, I though it would be funny. I have one question for my readers. I'm trying to make my OC Lantern slightly creepy and mysterious, and I would like to know how I'm doing. Hope to get some reviews. Seen you next time. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I****'****m sorry it so long for me to upload this chapter. I was working on other projects for a while, but I have not given up on this one. And so, without further ado.**

**The Masked Guardian**

**Chapter 5 ****Seduced By Darkness**

"Okay, mate. Lets say that your right, and Pitch is preparing for this lunar eclipse. What do we do about it?" Bunny asked.

"Well," Lantern said, scratching his chin. "Unless you know a way to alter the orbit of two celestial bodies that your not telling me about, I'd suggest we keep Pitch busy long enough for the eclipse to pass and he's misses his chance."

"Easier said then done." North said. "Look at the globe." They all looked up, and saw that the lights on the globe were going out again. Like before it happening in isolated areas, but this time, it was happening on every continent. Frost flew up and looked at the globe up close.

"Pitch and his goons must have separated."

"Then that's what we will do!" North announced, drawing his sword. "Tooth," He pointed his sword at Tooth who flinched. "You take care of Asia! Sandy!," he swung his sword again. "You handily Africa! Bunny, you take Australia!"

"Will you stop swinging that thing around like a loony mate!" Bunny shouted, but North ignored him.

"Jack!" At this, both Frost and Lantern looked at North. "Ugh, Jack Frost. You and I will handle the Americas. You take South, I'll take me"; he laughed at his own joke. "And Lantern." Lantern turned to face North while every one else turned to face him. "Can we trust you to handle Europe on your own?"

Lantern was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes."

"Then we must leave now. We'll rendezvous back here!

Bunny stomped the ground and leaped through his rabbit hole. Tooth Sandy and Frost took to the air, flying off in different directions. North made his way to the his Sleigh, and Lantern casually walked toward the nearest door, knocked and walked inside.

As Lantern stepped into the closest, he stepped out onto the streets of London. It was dusk, and the last of the commuters were on their way home.

"I wonder where I should look." Lantern said to himself. He thought for a moment, then spontaneously combusted. In his place stood a young girl, no older then seven. She was wearing a school uniform, and his lantern had transformed into a rag doll. He then began to walk down the street, putting his centuries of method acting to use.

"Oh dear," he said in a soft girl voice, his accent had changed from Irish to British. "It's so late, I hope mum and dad wont be too upset." Sensing that he was being watched, Lantern tripped himself. He gave a very convincing cry clutching his doll/lantern tightly.

"I have to say, that is a rather convincing performance. If I hadn't seen you transform I would never suspect it was you, Lantern." Lantern turned around, and there stood Pitch Black. "You're alone I see." Pitch said with a nasty smile.

"I'm sure that that was your plan from the start." Lantern said in his real voice. He stood up, and in a burst of flames, returned to his true form.

"Oh yes. At this very moment, your friends and battling against my children and nightmares."

Pitch was right. The other guardians were engaged in battle against the Dark Guardians. In Rio Degennaro, Frost was firing blast of ice at the slime monster Shock, who had grown considerably after absorbing several dozen children. On the streets of Hong Kong Tooth was locked in battle with Lonesome, the smoke woman. Somehow, Lonesome had possessed several kids, turning them into zombie servants. On the Serengeti plains, Sandy was trying to tame a heard of Nightmares circling around him.

On the roof of Sydney's famous opera house, Bunny was facing off against Primal, who's claws and brute strength were proving a tough match against Bunny's speed, boomerangs and martial arts skills. Finally, North was facing Loss in a snow covered Central Park.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be left out." Lantern swung his lantern violently, and launched a ball of fire at Pitch. The Boogie man rose a wall of black sand to protect himself. Pitch then had his sand take the form of a giant scythe. Lantern dodged Pitch's swing, and transformed his lantern into a halberd and charged at Pitch. The two swung at each other wildly, but neither one was able to land a blow. Pitch then dived into the shadows and vanished. In a burst of flames, Lanter's halberd turned back to a normal. He rose it as high as he could, and flooded the street with light. As the light flooded the street, Pitch was forced out of the shadows. He fell to the ground, covering his eyes.

Lantern pounced on Pitch, lantern raised, ready to strike. "Looks like I've won."

"Wait!" Pitch said. Before you finish me off, I have something I would like to ask you. Tell me Lantern, why are you spending your time with these weirdoes? From what I understand, you spend most of your time using you power to change and be seen to blend in with normal people. Why drop all that to hang out with the guardians?"

Lantern was silent for a moment, then said.

"The Man-in-the-moon chose me to be a guardian. At first I wanted to decline, but I eventually decided to help them on this adventure, to see if I truly was meant to be a guardian."

"Your not an honorary member yet." Pitch asked.

"No." Lantern replied. "I am not a contracted guardian, I just agreed to help them in this endeavor."

"I have to say, I'm surprised you even agreed to that." Pitch said.

"What do you mean? Lantern said, lowering his defenses. As the light of the lantern diminished, and the shadows returned, Pitch vanished.

"You and the guardians don't seem to have anything in common." Pitch's voice came from all around Lantern, fading in and out, as if Pitch were moving away and towards him. "They are all figures of wonder and light. You're more like me; dark and strange." Lantern was silent for a bit then said,

"I must admit, some of them have been vocal about their distrust in me. Some of them have openly called me 'creepy' on multiple occasions.

"Sounds to me like they don't appreciate you." Pitch said sympathetically, as he literally stepped out of the shadows. "But I would." Lantern looked at Pitch.

"What are you saying."

"Im saying that you and I should be friends, not foes. Join me, work with others like you, and be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams." Lantern said nothing, he just looked Pitch in the eyes.

"I know this is a big decision." Pitch said as he backing into the shadows. "I'll give you some time to think about it. Just remember," Pitch disappeared into the darkness, his voice fading away. "Your not one of them."

Little did Pitch and Lantern know was that their entire spectacle being watched by a pair of little eyes.

Back at the Pole, the other guardians were nursing their wounds from their battles. The Yetis proved be just as good nurses and they were toy makers; bandaging and providing first aid to the injured guardians, the elves assisting the yetis however they could, save for a small group, who were digging in a box of cotton stuffing, looking for the chocolate bar they would never find.

CLICH, they all heard the sound of a door opening, and saw Lantern stepped out of a closest.

"Welcome back." North said, sounding exhausted. Lantern walked and sat with the others.

"I see you all faced struggles of your own."

"Pitch's brats are doing weird things to any children they meet." Bunny said. "That freaky beastie just has to scratch an ankle biter, and they go feral or something."

"The boy that Pitch controls just has to touch a child and they become like him." North said, exhausted.

"Pitch's strategy must be to corrupt children rather then just tarnish their beliefs." Lantern said.

"Speaking of Pitch," Frost said. "who ended up fighting him?" The Guardians shook their heads then turned to Lantern.

"I did." Lantern said flatly.

"You fought Pitch all by yourself?" Bunny said, astonished.

"Yes." Lantern replied.

"Wow, and you're not all beat up like the rest of us." Jack said impressed. "No wonder The Man in the Moon wants you to be a guardian."

As they spoke, one of Tooth's fairies flew out of the shadows. The little sprite flew down to her master and frantically squeaked something in her ear. Lantern saw this out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything.

"Um, Lantern, could you give us a minute? Please?" Tooth asked.

Lantern said nothing for a moment, then said, "Alright." As he walked around the corner and out of sight Tooth said in a hush tone.

"Guys, you're probably not going to like this, but I had Baby-Tooth spy on Lantern, and she has some bad news to report."

You were spying on Lantern?" Frost said, sounding both shocked and angry.

"And I'm glad I did. Baby Tooth told my that Pitch tried to talk Lantern into joining him."

"Crikey." Bunny said.

"Just like he did with me." Jack said grimly. Everyone turned to face him. "After Pitch ruined Easter the lat time he showed up, he came to me and tried talking me into joining him."

"That was after we had our falling out. Why would Pitch try to recruit Lantern when he is still one of us?" North asked.

"Probably because the two are so alike." Tooth said bitterly.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"He's dark, he's creepy, you never know what he's thinking, and the way he changes into other people to show emotion really creeps me out. Don't even get me started on the candy." Tooth shuddered a little after saying that word.

"Tooth, please." Jack said frustratedly. "You've been bitter towards Lantern even since this whole mess started."

"Well, how would you feel if you were forced to work with someone who's job is counter productive to your own." She said bitterly. She sighed heavily then said. "Every time a child's tooth decays, several of their most precious childhood memories decay with it. Do you know how it feels for me to see all those memories ruined forever? It's heartbreaking, and his holiday is one of the leading causes."

"It's not just her, mate." Bunny interrupted. "I've got to say, I don't trust that bloke either. You know where I come from we don't even celebrate Halloween."

"Now now, lets not get off track." North said. "Jack, your spent the most time with Lantern, what can you tell us about him?"

"Well," Jack began. "He's very active. He's used his shape shifting power to do many things throughout the centuries. He told me he's been involved in several big historical events He's also really smart, he told me some very interesting things when we were dropping off those two kids." He turned to bunny, and grinned a nasty grin.

"I have to say Bunny, I never figured you for a potty mouth." As Jack burst out laughing, Bunny, on the other hand, look ready to kill.

"**Hey! I do not do that anymore!****"** He stood up quickly. **"****Where is that bloke? I****'****ll knock him into next year!****"** It took the other four guardians several minutes to calm Bunny down, and even then, his heart was still set on pummeling Lantern.

"Jack, please continue." North said.

"That's all I've got." Jack replied. The Guardians looked at him disapprovingly, and he said, "Look, I know that Lantern is strange and can be creepy, but the Man in the Moon chose him for a resin, just like he chose all of us, and I know he'll make a good guardian." Seeing that the others weren't convinced, Jack stood up and said, "You know, we can argue about this all day, it's not going to get us anywhere. I'm going to talk to Lantern about this, and see what he has to say." As Jack walked off, the other, the other guardians got up and followed him, none of them noticing the spider on the with a jack-O-Lantern collar around it's abdomen.

"Lantern!" Jack shouted into the vast workshop. "Lantern where are you?" There was no response, instead, the sound of a slamming door echoed through the workshop.

"You all have done well." Pitch said to his children. "our plans are on schedule, and the guardians are growing weaker and weaker." Pitch then felt a sudden presence in his lair.

"What is it father?" Primal asked.

"We have a guest." Pitch said with a smile. "and It's someone I've been expecting."

Lantern walked through a long tunnel, the light of his lantern shining brightly in the darkness. He then came out onto what looked like the ruins of an ancient city. There were stairs and bridges that lead to everywhere and nowhere. Giant cages hung from the celling, and a mound of gold cylinders were piled into an empty space. Lantern then saw a large globe that was covered in golden lights. As he walked over to investigate, he then felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Welcome to my humble home, Lantern." From out of the dark came Pitch's voice.

"Hello again Pitch." Lantern said. "I must admit, I like your lair. The architecture is both haunting, and engaging."

"I appreciate that, bit I take it you didn't come here just to admire my home." Pitch said as he literally stepping out of the shadows. "Have you given any thought to my offer?" As he spoke, Pitch's children emerged from the darkness, blocking any of Lantern's possible escape routes.

"At the pole, the other guardians had a meeting which they chose to exclude me from. I eavesdropped, and sure enough, they were discussing whether or not they could trust me. I realized then that you were right; I'm not one of them."

"Oh know this must have hurt," Pitch said in a comforting tone as walked closer to Lantern "but don't despair. I believe in you Lantern, and I know that children will too. Join me, and by the time my plan is complete Halloween night will never end." Pitch held out his hand, and after a moments pause Lantern reached out and shook it.

**TO BE CONTINUED. **

**Well, this is an interesting turn of events. I'm sure I'll get some hate mail for this chapter, but before you hit 'unsubscribe' I assure you all, I know what I'm doing; if I said anything more then that, it would be spoiling. I'm sorry it took me so long to post this. I've had it done since the end of November, but I thought it would be best to wait until the holidays were over to post it.**


	6. apology

To all my fans of The Masked Guardian, I offer my humblest of apologies. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything and left you all on a cliffhanger but I assure you all that I have not abandoned this story and I have several chapters planed out (more or less.) As usual, do not review this post as I will be taking it down once my new chapter is finished; which should be some time in early to mid June. Thank you all.


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